Los Angeles Clippers a big test for Brooklyn Nets

The Nets racked up a ton of points in their first two games on their eight-game road trip, averaging 116.0 points on 52.3 percent shooting in its wins over the Pistons and Mavericks, who truth be told are not good defensive teams ... at all.

Now, the Nets are facing a team that does play defense on their home court, the Clippers. In their last game, vs. the 76ers, the Clippers gave up only 72 points, came up with 13 steals and 19 turnovers overall, leading to 24 points. The Clippers of course play at a fast pace, being one of the NBA's best transition teams. It helps to have Chris Paul at the point and Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan running ahead of the pack and coming up daily with highlight package material for the rest of the league.

Although Kris Humphries has played well against Griffin on occasion, the Clipper forward and TV commercial star has averaged 22.0 points and 12.0 rebounds in his last four in this series. Griffin had 23 and 14 in the Nets' last visit a year ago, a 101-91 LA win. Historically, the Nets --and Deron Williams-- do appear to have Chris Paul's number. Since D-Will joined the Nets, Paul has scored just 12.2 per game. That's the last five games. In their career match-ups, Williams teams are 14-4 vs. Paul teams. D-Will has a slight edge over Paul in scoring, 16.6 to 15.7, but Paul has an advantage in assists, 9.1 to 8.4. In their last match-up, the Nets won, 86-76, with Brook Lopez scoring 26 and Joe Johnson 19.

The Clippers will be short-handed in the backcourt Saturday, with Eric Bledsoe and Chauncey Billups both out. Humphries is expected to play for the Nets. If he does, the tabloid interest will evolve around him and Lamar Odom, who remain, at least legally, brothers-in-law.

• Brooklyn Nets Game Notes - Brooklyn Nets
• Los Angeles Clippers Game Notes - Los Angeles Clippers
• Nets at Clippers - March 23, 2013 - Taylor Bechtold - STATS
• Nets proud of their playoff berth - Rod Boone - Newsday
• The 2007 Playoffs Were the Last the Nets Reached - Jake Appleman - New York Times
  
• W2W4: Nets at Clippers - Mike Mazzeo - ESPN New York
  
• Brooklyn Nets clinch playoffs for first time in Mikhail Prokhorov era, but have much higher expectations - Stefan Bondy - New York Daily News
• Deron Williams isn't getting in front of a losing battle like Brandon Knight - Stefan Bondy - New York Daily News
  
• Brooklyn Nets aren’t satisfied with clinching NBA playoff spot - Tim Bontemps - New York Post
• Nets are in the playoffs and it's up to Lopez to determine how far they go - Tim Bontemps - New York Post
  
• Matchup to watch: Deron Williams vs. Chris Paul - Devin Kharpertian - The Brooklyn Game
  
• Vinny Del Negro, Blake Griffin expect Los Angeles Clippers' defense to improve - Arash Markazi - ESPN LA
• Up next for the Clippers: Saturday vs. Brooklyn - Broderick Turner - Los Angeles Times
• Clippers-Nets preview: Two in a row would be nice - Steve Perrin - Clips Nation